The Past Catches Up
by MechaDragon99
Summary: It has been five years since the Centurion murder had happened. Now, Louise and her friends/ employees are going back to Tristain in order to take a break from their work. So then... why are they returning to their work even if they are taking their leave? And how is this job related to the murder? [Modern AU]
1. Chapter 1

"Tch… I knew you were up to something. I should have dealt with you when the opportunity was there."

A man at his 50s with neck-length blonde hair and mustache sprawled on his office ground. His desk was in a mess and blood was flowing out to the blue carpet. The man struggles to look up and glare at the perpetrator. He coughed out blood while trying to focus his vision on the person who causes it.

Well, he already knew who did it and he didn't like it.

"My apologies, President. However, this needs to be done." The perpetrator said in a deep, muffled voice.

The 'president' was then picked up by the neck from the ground. His business suit was completely tattered and blood stains were visible on the white collar shirt. Even if he was at his enemy's mercy, his glare never falter.

"You can kill me all you want. But let me tell you something first:" the 'president' coughed out more blood before he continued, "I know why you do this, and I know that inside the case is the reason that you do this. But know this, justice will prevail."

The perpetrator stares at the president for a few seconds before he released the president's neck, promptly caused him to flopped on the floor.

"It was nice knowing you and I thank you for everything you have done for me. But this is a necessary action that I must take," The perpetrator then picks up the silver case. He pulls a pistol from his pocket and aimed the pistol at the sprawled man.

"Goodbye, President Centurion Valliere."

 ***BANG!***

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tristain International Airport. Local time is 10.00 AM and the temperature is 23°C.

For your safety and comfort, please **remain seated** with your **seatbelt fastened** until the Captain turns off the turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign. This will indicate that we have parked at the gate and that it is safe for you to move about.

Please check your seat for any **personal belongings** you may have brought on board with you and please use caution when opening the **overhead bins** , as heavy articles may have shifted around during the flight.

If you require **deplaning assistance** , please remain in your seat until all passengers have deplaned. One of our crew will then pleased to assist you.

On behalf of Ostland Airlines and the entire crew, I'd like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day!"

As soon as the announcement has finished, the Fasten Seat Belt sign immediately turned off. I stretch my body while standing up. As soon as I did it, I heard cracking noises and my bones loosen up from sitting the same sit for about 8 hours straight.

"Man, what a long flight. At least the seat is comfortable enough to sleep." A male voice said it.

I turn to the voice and I see two people who sat beside me for the whole flight.

The first person is an Asian looking woman with a pair of blue eyes and straight short black hair at my age. She wears a white stripe buttoned up shirt, a pink drape long jacket that hugs her figure, and a pair of blue jeans. She also wears a white headband on her head, which makes her look cute with her wrinkles.

The other person is a man, also black-haired but his eyes are dark azure color. He wears a long-sleeved blue sweater jacket and a black collar shirt. He also wears a pair of dark blue jeans partnered with a pair of black and white sneakers.

These two people are my friends, Saito Hiraga and Siesta Sasaki. I met Saito when I was studying at Ivy University while I knew Siesta since middle school.

Both of them are, in fact, Japanese; at least, one of them is 100% Japanese. While Saito is 100% and lives most of his life in Japan, Siesta is 1/8th Japanese who live in Tarbes until she went to America with me. Her great-grandfather was a World War II Japanese soldier who settled down with her Tristanian great-grandmother. From then on, the Sasaki family never left Tristain and only go to Japan to visit any relatives. Even then, the visits are few and far between.

"You sound like an old man just now, Saito. Are you sure you are not growing old?" Siesta jabbed at Saito while taking her black and white travel bag from the overhead bin.

"Hey, I am just as young as you girls and I am happy knowing that fact, thank you very much." Saito immediately replies Siesta dryly.

I giggle at their little conversation. Sometimes those two can be such a child, with their jabbing and small bickering.

"Alright, children, no more bickering with each other. We still have our luggage to take in the airport, so let's take our travel bag and move out of the plane." I jokingly told them in a motherly tone.

Both of them look at me and roll their eyes, then proceed to take their travel bag from the overhead bin while I take my pink travel bag and then slowly walk out of the plane to get our luggage.

* * *

Once we step out of the airport, we found the person who will take us to our next destination since she looks like me, but a bit older, waving at us.

The woman has long, waist-length pink hair like me, but she has two sidelocks tied by a ribbon on each of them. Also, like me, her eyes are pink. She also wears a blue buttoned-up collar shirt with a brown blazer, purple long skirt and white high heels.

This is my middle sister, Cattleya Valliere. Unlike my eldest sister, big sis Cattleya is very kind, patient and very tolerant of my attitude when I was younger. She was my role model when I was younger, and still do even today. You can say that I am what I am today because of big sis.

"Big sis Cattleya!" we immediately hug each other once I walk up to her. "I miss you so much."

"I miss you too, Louise. How is my beloved sister doing?" My sister ask. She then looks away from me to both Saito and Siesta with her kind pink eyes. "Oh, you bring Siesta along? And that man is the Saito Hiraga you talk about before?"

I release myself from the hug and turn to both of them. "Yup, I bring Siesta along," I said. Then I look at Saito and raise my hand towards him. "And yes, this man here is Saito Hiraga, Cattleya." I then move my hand to big sis and say to him "Saito, this is my elder sister, Cattleya."

Saito then walks up to her and shake her hand. "Saito Hiraga, nice to meet you." The man then looks up and down, seemingly trying to memorize her physical feature. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought you are Louise's twin sister because of how similar you two look like."

Cattleya returns the handshake and nodded at him with saying "Nice to meet you too, and don't worry about confusing the both of us, we get that a lot nowadays." Cattleya then looks at Siesta and give her the kind smile that she gave me just now, "Nice to see you again, Siesta. I hope that my sister did not give you any trouble." She teased.

Siesta giggle at her statement and shake her head. "Oh no, your sister did not give me any trouble during work. She just doesn't take care of her health, that's all."

I lightly punch Siesta shoulder and pout at her. "Hey, that's not nice, I do take care of my health, okay."

"Eating takeout food for dinner and staying up just so you can complete your work? I don't think that is what you call 'healthy'." Saito said with a deadpanned voice. This guy… he really loves to get on my nerves, doesn't he?

I turn my head so fast that I think my head will snap if I didn't stop where I am and glare at him. "Well, excuse me, Mr. Always-late-for-work, I don't stay up late because I want to. Do you even want to know how much paperwork I have to do? That is not even counting-"

"Alright, alright! I get it! You don't need to complain the same thing for the over 40th times!" The Japanese man immediately raises his hands to stop me from saying any more words. Good, at least he knows my stress as his employer… for now.

My sister giggles at the small banter I have with Saito. I turn my head towards to her. I can't see myself right now, but I am very sure that I have a small smile watching my sister giggling and smiling right now. Who would have thought that a woman who suffers from a really terrible latent tuberculosis -she was coughing up blood almost all the time- and depression for years can now finally recover and, even better, finally has a social, and marriage, life instead of confining herself in her room and recovering from her illness.

"Alright everyone, I know that you guys want to talk more right now, but I think we should do it when we get into the car." Big sis Cattleya said to us while pointing at her finger at the white Toyota Vellfire that was parked behind her.

We turn our head and stare at the car for a while before we take our luggage and travel bag and proceed to walk towards the car.

When we reach the car, the boot automatically opens up. We then place our luggage at the boot before I close it off. Then, big sis Cattleya opens both left doors and then enters the front one, while leaving the back door for us to enter the car.

We enter the car, sit down and place our bag on our lap. Then, when big sis confirms that we are ready to go, tells the driver to drive us to our next location, the Valliere estate.

* * *

 **Author's note**

 **So, um… hey guys. I am Mechadragon99 (I think really need to change it) Welcome to my first story on this site, a Familiar of Zero modern time AU. This is something that I have pretty much never seen in this site (I have no idea if or AO3 have modern FOZ AU stories), so I want to apologize to you guys if this is not up to your standard.**

 **Anyway, yes this is a really short first chapter that I write, mainly because this story is pretty much in a planning phase. To be fair to myself, I have pretty much nothing to work with, so I am pretty much walking into the unknown.**

 **Also, as you guys notice, the story will be one Louise's perspective. And keep in mind that Louise is not the best narrator, so there will be times where she just assumes something with the information she has. Don't worry, there will be times where the story will tell in a different perspective.**

 **I am actually debating wheater I should make this a crossover fic or just a stand-alone story. On, one hand, if I go for making it a crossover, I would have at least a template I can work with but I lose some of the plot points I was planning to use. On the other hand, if I make it a stand-alone fic, then I have to basically work everything from scratch. Welp, that's for me to think right now, I would probably come to my answer probably by next or 2 chapters later.**

 **Anyway, this is all I have to say right now. Feel free to review and tell me where I can improve the story. I'll see you guys in the next chapter… when I get around to do it.**


	2. Chapter 2

The whole journey back home from the airport is relatively quiet. It's not tense per se, just we don't really know who and where to start our conversation. Saito is using his phone, probably playing a mobile game.

Meanwhile, the rest of us -except the driver, he is driving after all- are looking outside of the window. It is also then that I see a faint reflection of myself while streetlamps and cars pass through me.

Like I said before, I and my sister have the same eye color and hair color, which are pink. Unlike her though, I like to keep my hair straight and free-flowing. Also like my sister, I have an impressive… bust size let's just say.

Hey, I don't share the same growth on my bust as my peers during my high school years, late puberty and all, so I might as well brag something that people who were on the same situation as me can sympathize (case in point, Charlotte).

Suck it, Kirche!

Anyway, focusing on my reflection again, I am currently wearing a pink jacket on top of a purple dress. It's a simple go to wear for me. It's simple, not too complex and it gets the job of being a casual wear done.

"So Louise," I immediately bring out of my thought when my sister calls me, "you decide to come back because you decide to take a leave along with Siesta and Saito, right?"

I move my head away from the window and nodded, "Yup. Aside from public holidays and weekends, -even then, we do work in those time more often than not anyway- we never take any leaves. Especially now since I'm running the firm." I replied to my sister.

Yeah, running a small law firm is fine and all, but when you realize that you are basically the only three competent people, me, Siesta and Charlotte, who can finish an abundant amount of paperwork, -well there is one more person, but she is still a high schooler- the task becomes from slightly tolerable to a complete nightmare. And I am NOT going to let Zerbst do it no matter how hard she tells me she can. I am not gonna let her repeat what happen last year.

I guess this is what happens when your firm specializes in criminal law and house agreement.

"I see, then I think this is a good opportunity to rest, but how long are you going to be here? Mother never really told us about it."

"I am thinking about a week."

"Wait," I suddenly hear Saito said it and I turn my head, seeing him rolling his eyes. "if we are here for about a week… then who is going to take over for us?"

Siesta turns her head to him and tells him who replaces us. "You don't need to worry, Charlotte, Henrietta, and Wales will do our work."

He stares at both of us for a little longer before he nods and continues his playing his game.

While he is playing his game, I and my sister decide to catch up on what we're doing before coming back to Tristain.

It seems that our parent's own firm is doing relatively okay lately, nothing really changes except that big sis Eleanore is now deciding whether she wants to start her own firm or not. Well, good luck to her I guess.

Another news that I get from big sis Cattleya is that her husband is now an international prosecutor for Tristain's prosecutor office. Well, I guess congratulation is in line, he did work very hard to get this far in his career after all. I just hope that the paperwork and the cases he will take in the future doesn't cut too much of his time that he can spend with big sis Cattleya. Oh and let's hope that the paperwork doesn't collapse on him, it's a horrible experience.

But the news that really catches my attention -and everyone in the car- is…

"Really?!" I exclaimed.

My sister jumps a little after I did that, but she quickly recovered after my sudden outburst and nod.

"Yup, that's right. I was pretty shocked too when I heard it from the doctor yesterday. I haven't tell mother and your brother-in-law yet though." Even though I can't see her from the back seat, I can tell that she is smiling right now.

"J-just… I… I can't believe it, Louise," Siesta said it "y-you're going to be an aunt soon!"

I… I don't know what to say. Before, the thought of being of aunt was just a pipe dream. I never thought I would say this but I really thank the Founder that this happens, it's like Christmas coming early.

I couldn't control my happiness, my excitement after hearing this piece of news. "This is amazing! Congratulations! Big Sis!" I shout and jump up from my seat. I don't care what the others think of me right now, all I care is that my beloved sister can finally become a mother.

"Erm, Louise," Saito suddenly call me out. "I think we have arrived." He said.

I looked outside the car and see that it had stopped in front of a modern contemporary house. It's all white, and it's three stories tall. Right away there is seven large window that sees through the reception room. There is also a large pool at the right side of the house.

We all get out of the car and then take our luggage from the boot and thank the driver before he drives off.

"So, this is your house, huh?" Saito remarked while looking at the house, taking in every detail of the front of the house.

I nodded, "Yup, this is my house, the Valliere estate."

I stand at the front of the house and look around it.

' _Eight years. Already, it has been eight years in a blink of an eye.'_ I thought to myself. This past eight years of studying and pursuing my career had not been easy. Four years of studying and then four years of working. Honestly, if it wasn't for Henrietta and my former employer, Siesta and I probably would not have a job now.

"It never changes, huh. This house I mean." Siesta walk beside me and said it to me. "It's still the same as how it was when you guys moved here."

I turn my head towards her and give her a small smile before I nod. "Yeah…"

"Alright," I heard my sister saying it while walking in front of us. " I know it is very nostalgic for you girls, but there are still two more people that wish to see you, Louise. Come along now everyone."

Saito looks at me for a few seconds before he jerks his head two times to tell me to go ahead first. I simply walk ahead of both of them and follow my sister to the front door, who is unlocking it.

* * *

 **Wow… three bloody months of not updating this story and now I only write 1165 words for my second chapter that doesn't really go anywhere? I really need to apologize to those who fav and follow this story.**

 **Anyway, yeah. I want to apologize to all of you right now for not updating for three months. I won't go into details as to what happened but all I can say is that I have been really busy with college, which leads to me being unmotivated. That and I have been playing Hyperdimension Neptunia games. Pretty good JRPG all things considered.**

 **I can't promise that the next chapter will come out soon but I will try my best to get it done ASAP. On the side note, this story will now move to the crossover section.**

 **Anyway, this is all I have to say right now. Feel free to review and tell me where I can improve the story. I'll see you guys in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

The interior of the house is rather normal in my opinion. Right away, the living room and the kitchen are visible when we enter the house. It consists of a 4K HD Tv that is probably brought recently, and on fronts of it is a wood rectangle coffee table and L-shaped sofa. The kitchen, meanwhile, has a black marble dining table and anything that you can expect n a kitchen such as a counter, a sink etc.

All and all, the house is what you can expect in a high-middle income family.

"Oh. So, you guys have finally come back." I hear a female voice coming down from the stairs as she comes down slowly.

The woman is at her 30s. She has a stern face with pointed, pink eyes and she wears glasses. She has a long, noble-style blonde hair. Finally, she wears a white business and a dark purple dress.

But she wasn't the only one who also comes down from the stairs. Behind her is another woman who looks around her late 40s to early 50s. The woman has a pink bun tied hair -with two sidelocks- of big sis Cattleya and mine and the blonde woman's pointed eyes. The woman also wears a light purple long dress that covers all the way above her feet.

"Big sis Eleanor, mother." I greet them respectively before I smiled a bit. "I'm home now."

The blonde woman is my eldest sister, Eleanor Valliere. If Cattleya is the sweet, kindhearted and patience sister, then Eleanor is the opposite. While she has her moments, Eleanor can be short-tempered, strict and cold. So it's no surprise that while people respect her (as a college professor), only very few tries to interact with her other than when they are working.

Why do you think it takes her so many years just to even get into a relationship with someone who can tolerate her and mellow her out, even by a VERY small margin.

Then there is the other woman, who is my mother: Karin "Maillart" Valliere. If there is a person who I know that embodies the term 'strong woman' to it's very best, then it's her. She has Eleanore's strict and cold attitude, but also Cattleya's gentle and patient. My mother may come off as a woman who doesn't care about her child, but it is very much the opposite.

Karin cares about the family, even more so than the law firm she and father started up. Maybe that's why she was sad when I went overseas to study.

My mother smiles at me and looks all three of us. "I'm glad that you all have travel back here safely," she then her head towards Saito. " You must be the friend that both my daughter and Siesta talk about, Saito Hiraga is it? Nice to meet you."

"Yes, ma'am. Nice to meet you too." Saito stretches his hand to shake his hand with her and my mother accept the handshake.

"Ahem," Eleanore suddenly interrupted both of them. "I hate to interrupt you, mother but I believe we have prepared dinner for everyone and we do not want to let it turn cold, right?"

My mother then nodded and gestured her hand to the kitchen. "How about we continue our talk at the dinner table?"

* * *

"Haa, finally… nice, nice bed." I said it right after I plop down on my soft bed in my room.

Dinner was rather quiet, aside from a few conversations here and there. Most of the conversation is pretty trivial, from Eleanore asking about Cattleya's pregnancy to how have my law firm has been doing. It is really relaxing to finally have a single dinner without thinking about the current case or paperwork.

Afterward, we all decide to take our luggage and brought it to our respective room. Siesta and I will stay in my room while Saito will be in a guest room.

Right now, I just stare at the white ceiling of my room, wearing my pink pajamas, and thinking about what Eleanore said during the dinner.

" _Two days ago, Justitia Order Academy made an invitation for me to go for their student mock trial, based on "the case" from five years ago, tomorrow. They said that I can invite another 2 more people to watch the trail together. Does anyone of you guys want to join?"_

Of course, I did accept it immediately. Mostly out of curiosity on how the students tackle the mock trial but also to see how the staffs behind the mock trial change the case for it to be able to be solved. Can't have it too hard, despite the fact that the case was concluded under just 2 days.

Still… that case…

"Are you thinking about tomorrow?" Siesta ask me without looking at me while she is changing to her yellow pajamas to retire for the night.

I move my eye away from the ceiling to her and sigh. "Sorry, it's just… I am both curious as to how it plays out. But then I also wonder if the outcomes of the case can be different from what we got or we can get new information from there." I swallow some saliva and continue. "There is just… so much unanswered questions."

"Well, I'm very sure that your question will be answered tomorrow. All three of us are going after all." Siesta said after she is done wearing her pajamas and sit next to me and continued. "I am also curious as to how this mock trial will go since…" the rest of the words are left unsaid. She looks away from me and stares at the floor with a woebegone look (did I seriously use woebegone).

"Yeah…" I want to say more, but right now I don't know what to say to her.

…

"Let's not think so much for now and get some rest," I said it and move to the other side of the bed. "And Siesta… it's not your father's fault, I know that."

I decide to hit the hay before she can reply. I really don't want to hear her trying to take her father's blame anymore. I know it is not him and I really wish to know who is the true killer of the case.

Unknown to all of us, tomorrow will be the day that we finally gain our answer.

* * *

 **Returning Turnabout**

* * *

 _May 23_ _rd,_ _2022, 8:37 AM_

 _Justitia Order Academy_

 _East Hallway_

"This place is almost as big as our old high school, Siesta." I say it in awe when I look around this place. And I have to say I am very impressed. Tristain High was big, but this one can give the school a run for its money.

"Almost as big as your old high school?! This school is as big as a college!" Saito exclaim from our statement. "Would you girls, like, get tired if you have classes that are across the other side of the building?"

"Students are given ample time to get ready for their next class, approximately 10 to 20 minutes, including going to the class and finding a seat in the class. At least that is what I know when I was teaching here." Eleanore provides Saito that the information.

"Nothing much had changed since the last time you taught in this school, Eleanore." A familiar voice that I know suddenly told us from behind.

I turn around and see a man with long silver hair and short boxed beard in his mid-30s. He has a pair of sharp silver eyes wears a normal black business suit.

"Ah, Professor Wardes, I see that you decide to make time for us, I was worried that you will end up hole yourself in your office again." Eleanore said it to the silver-haired man. She then walks towards to him and then introduces him to us (for those of us who don't know him) "This is Wardes Viscount, everyone, he is one of the prosecutor lecturers in this academy."

"Don't over exaggerate my working behavior, Eleanore. I **DO** get out of my office and do something else other than preparing classes and doing paperwork." Wardes rebuke Eleanore's statement. "I see that you are all the guest that Eleanore brings along. My name Wardes Viscount, I am one of the lecturers in this academy."

Wardes looks at us and then stare at me and gives me a thin smile. "I see that you have decided to come back, Louise."

"Wardes, it's been a long while." I reply to him with an indifferent tone.

Wardes holds his thin smile and just nod a little. "So Louise," he turns his head towards both Saito and Siesta. "who is this young man beside Siesta?" Saito suddenly stands stiffly for some reason.

"Erm, nice to meet you, mister. My name is Saito Hiraga, a detective in the States. Nice to meet you." He raises his hand to make a handshake with Wardes. Of course, Wardes decides to return the handshake.

"Nice to meet you too, Mister Hiraga. I heard quite a few cases that you took, from Louise and Siesta of course." He said and still carry the thin smile.

After they retract their hand Eleanore calls us to follow her to the auditorium to watch the mock trial.

"So, who is the one that writes the script for the mock trial, Mr. Wardes?" Siesta ask him while we are walking to the auditorium.

"Well, there are actually two scriptwriters for this mock trial, one for the defender and one for the prosecutor. I write the prosecutor side of the script while another professor here writes the defense side. Afterward, we sent the drafts to the headmaster and other higher-ups."

So this is not the work of a person huh? I wonder who is the person who writes the defense side? Maybe I can find the person in the auditorium later.

* * *

The rest of the journey is quite, with only our footstep sound echoing the hallway. As we got closer to our destination, the more student we see moving about in the hallway. It takes us about 3 minutes to walk to the auditorium and enter it along with a great many students.

The auditorium looks like something that comes straight from a sci-fi story. Behind the judge bench is literally a large projector screen. Heck, even seats of the student benches have touch screen computers set to each of the seats. One by one, the students are filling up the seats.

Honestly, this is really insane if you ask me. But then again, this technology is also being incorporated to Law Schools back in the States.

While we search for our seat, a mature looking bespectacled woman with long green hair walks toward us. She too also wears a business suit, but she wears a black skirt instead of long pants.

"Hello and welcome to Justitia Order Academy." The green haired woman introduces herself to us in a professional tone. "My name is Mathilda, and I am one of the Defense major lecturers in this place. I assume that the three of you are the guest that Ms. Eleanore invites?" The woman, who is named Mathilda, continues.

"Yes, we are, Ms. Mathilda. My name is Louise and these two are my friends." I introduce myself to her politely. Both Siesta and Saito introduce themselves to her afterward and she leads us to our seat, which is at the first row.

"Students!" Someone suddenly shouts to the audience, making the auditorium silent immediately. I quickly turn my head and see an old man who looks too much like a certain fictional graybeard wizard. Him wearing the judge robe only backs up my claim. "The mock trial is about to begin, please remain seated and keep quiet."

We are just right now on time then. I take a deep breath and prepare myself to watch the mock trial.

Let the show begin.

* * *

 **Well… six months…**

 **I can explain.**

 **Real life happens, we all know the drill. Things in my life have been really becoming more and more hectic. General lack of motivation is one factor, and I am back to college now, so the next update is going to take just as long or even longer. And well…**

 **Long rambling ahead. Skip it to the end for the short version if you want.**

 **I gonna just admit it, trying to come up how to approach this story had been a pain in my ass sometimes. I try to think of an idea, but then the idea ends up contradicting the other. I want this story to make as many sense to the mystery as possible and sometimes things just don't work.**

 **Hell, this chapter had been rewritten twice because I am not satisfied with it. Even now I feel like I am not doing a good job on establishing the first act of this turnabout because I just keep on dragging on.**

 **Coming up with ideas is not the only factor of course like I said, I have a general lack of motivation for the past months. Between my college, family drama and laziness such as playing games like the Neptunia games, my motivation to write just isn't there. It sounds like an excuse and I admit it might as well be, but to juggle between all of this has limited my free time.**

 **As of now, I cannot promise when the next update will come. But I sure as hell not going to abandon this.**

 **TL;DR Lack of motivation, laziness and real life has been impeding me, but I am not going to stop this story.**

 **Anyway, this is all I have to say right now. Feel free to review and tell me where I can improve the story. I'll see you guys in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

_May 23_ _rd_ _, 2022, 03:55 PM_

 _Justitia Order Academy_

 _Auditorium_

" **TAKE THAT!"** The defense representative student shouted.

"This evidence, this bullet that killed the victim. If you say that you only saw the lower body from the other building… How did you know that the killer shot the victim's head?!" The defense representative student counters and points out the contradiction of the witness' statement.

The witness is not able to do anything and trying to fumble out his words, of course, this the time where the persecutor will make his counterpoint.

" **OBJECTION!"**

"Didn't the witness tell us that he was a floor above on the other building witnessing the murder?" the prosecutor asks her and continues "Besides, it's a standard casement window and the curtains are lowered when the crime was enacted."

"True…" The defense acknowledges what the persecutor said… and then make her counterpoint. "But **TAKE THAT!** "The defense presents the court with a ripped cloth, something that she acquired when questioning the student who played the part of being the detective of the case."What do you see, your honor?"

The Gandalf-look-a-like judge leans in to look closer at the cloth. "Isn't this the same cloth that was shown on the picture of the crime scene. It's the same as the one as the curtains." The judge says before he and the persecutor widened their eyes.

"Yes, your honor. This evidence here can prove that our witness here is lying!" The defense declared her statement loudly and with a firm voice. I got to say she is a huge risk-taker considering she has already made three crazy gambits on weak statements just to get an edge on the court. At least her risk paid off the last two times.

And like the last two times, her gambit pays off, as she continues her reasoning to the court. "That is because the forensic department checked and analyzed the cloth…" She pauses for a bit before she points her finger right at the witness "and found the fingerprints of the witness on the edges of the cloth!"

Yup, this is changed from the actual trail itself. The cloth was not part of the evidence of the trail. There were fingerprints, but it's the victims one.

The mock trial is very well performed. I check the script and found out that while there are many parts that are completely scripted (such as the opening statement), most of the works are done by the students improvising depending on the situation.

As for the case that they use, CC-25 incident. It's a murder case that happened in Tours Law Office and was closed a few years after the defendant was proven guilty.

The victim… was Centurion Valliere.

The defendant was…

I quickly shake my head to clear my mind. It's already been so long, no need to feel sad -sad, not depressed- all the sudden.

After about 30 minutes later the case has finally come to its ending and the judge now gives his verdict.

"Well, after many hours, the trial has come to a conclusion."

"Regarding the charge of murder, this court finds the defendant…"

 **NOT GUILTY**

The headmaster hit the gavel and announced the court is now adjourned.

The student slowly shuffles out of the hall and are talking in a mummer, probably still talking about the trial.

"That was one crazy trial, but it's short though." Saito commented when he gets up from his seat. "I get that this is a mock trial, but still."

"It was partially intentional on our part. When we wrote the script, we kept in mind that we wanted the students to start and end the trail on their own accord, three days is the maximum time." The female lecturer, Mathilda replied to Saito's comment.

I look at Siesta as she is in deep in thought about the mock trial. She had been like this since she got the script, looking like someone who fazes in and out of consciousness. I immediately walk up to her and place my hand on her shoulder.

As I expected, she jolted whip her head towards me once I place my hand on her. She blinks a few times before she sighed.

"Sorry," she apologized for the reason that I believe I know, but I wish I didn't. "I was just thinking about the purpose of this entire mock trial, and the entire reason for inviting the three of us in the first place."

Siesta looks at Wardes and walk towards to him; they stare at each other intently and she stands right in front of him before she speaks what is on her mind.

"You want to bring back the case again, are you?" She asks him and looks at me and Saito.

Wardes stared at her, with no emotion display to us and he slowly nods, confirming the whole point of this trip to the school.

"Yes, I want to start up the case again." He said. Then he starts to explain his reasoning. "I had wanted to restart the case for about 3 years now. The entire court case comes off as nothing but a kangaroo court."

"As in it doesn't follow the standards of law?" Saito asked.

"What? No, that spells disaster to any higher-ups that noticed it and the case would be re-opened, just not today.

What I meant is that the court case ends in such a swift hurry that many things about the case were skimped over. There were so many holes in the case -most of which were pointed out by our students- that Mathilda and I agreed that we should find a way to open a new trial for the case."

"Also, I can't show you right now, but we have new evidence found when I was trying to re-open the case."

All of us fell into silence, processing the information.

What Wardes said just now… I had the same though all those years ago. I always couldn't understand why they would want to end the case so quickly and haphazard, and then just go their merry ways without even giving a single glance afterward.

Of course, I never try to bring out the problem to the ones responsible to the court because 1.) I was out of the country along with Siesta, and 2.) We were in a very emotional state when we heard it.

I'm half- surprised that Wardes had been trying to get the case opened again for the past 3 years now though. Wardes has his reason to do this, but I don't see him being so willing to go this far for this case.

"So, how are we factored in this?" I decided to ask him. I'm not sure if Eleanore had other people in mind to be invited to this mock trial, but I feel that he is counting on the fact that we are present. Assuming he actually had factored that in, which is probably not, then what is our role?

"The thing is, I didn't. It's just a coincidence that you guys are invited by Eleanore." Wardes answered. Maybe I am just overthinking. It is not surprising that cases are re-opened, but it is usually within a month, not half a decade long.

So why now?

I mentally shake my head. Regardless of the reason why it takes so long to restart the case, it is still a chance to help Siesta.

Eleanore walks forward with her eyes raised and ask Wardes what our role in this is. "So, what we can help you? It's not like we can give you any new testimony aside from Louise and Siesta. But they were out of the country during the time of the crime."

What Eleanore said is right. What can we help? We told what we knew those years ago, there is nothing more that we can do.

Wardes shakes his head and smiles a little as if he just heard a joke. "Well, it's not what you guys can do to help me. It's what _we_ can do to give us the edge on the case."

I nod at his statement. So, he wants us to help to give ourselves-

Wait…

Us?

All three of us (Saito, Siesta and I) move our head slowly to him while our eyes slowly widen, trying to process what he just said.

"You want us," Saito makes an audible gulp before he continues. "To take this case with you… despite all of us not even close to being factored into your plan."

I look at Wardes and WISH that he is joking. Please be joking, you white-haired prosecutor!

Wardes and Mathilda look at us without a hint of emotion. Eleanore sigh and look at us as if telling us that all of us have really no choice on this right now. All of us stay silent for a few seconds, unable to say anything.

Until Saito breaks the silence with an expected response.

"You gotta be shitting me."

Yeah, I know.

* * *

 _May 24_ _rd_ _, 2022, 10:55 AM_

 _Tristain_

 _Detention Center_

" _Deep breath, Siesta. Deep breath."_ I tell myself, but I know it has done nothing to calm my mind. It's strange, I have gone to a detention center with Louise so many times before, and yet I feel nervous now.

Is it because of the person I am going to meet? Maybe, I can't think of other reason.

The sound of the metal door creaking breaks me out of my mind. I look towards the door and sees a man wearing a white shirt and black pants. The man looks at his 50s, with his hair having grey streaks.

He walks towards the clear pane glass cubicle before he gives me a small smile. We didn't start any conversation for a while, just observing each other's movement, no matter how small it is.

I muster the courage and finally say what I want to say in the first place.

"Erm… ah… hi, dad."

Yes, the man who was convicted in this case is my dad, Sasaki Tadashi.

"Hey, dear." He greets me right afterward. He scratches the back of his head and lightly chuckles a little. "Sorry for the awkward silence just now… I mean, my own daughter visiting me in a prison. What am I supposed to say when I meet you?"

I look down at the table as if it is more interesting, thinking about what he said is true. What would I react if my own child visits me in prison?

Stop. Stop thinking about this line of thought and focus. I look up to my dad again and takes out a notebook. My dad looks at my every move and then sigh when he sees the notebook.

"Let me guess, you want to re-take the case?" He asks, to which I nod. Technically, it's Mr. Wardes the one who want to re-take the case, but Louise, Saito and I are now involved.

"Alright," He releases a breath, "What can I do? As far as I am concern, I already gave all my testimonies back then already."

"True," I nod. "But I want to hear it from you, and this is the only thing I can do since Louise and Saito are looking through the evidence."

"Louise? So, she is also involved now?" He raises one of his eyebrows before giving me a small, but nervous smile. "Maybe, there is some hope for closure after all."

I ignore the part about 'closure' and he takes a deep breath before giving his testimony. "I remember that day I went to Centurion's office because he wanted me to hold on to a piece of evidence that he needed for the case he was taking."

"An evidence?" I take notes about what he said.

"Yes." My dad nods. "It was a piece of evidence that would give him an edge on the case." He then looks down, and his voice becomes quieter. "As you know what happened, this did not turn up well."

I stay quiet for a little, knowing that it's not a good memory to go through. However, it is necessary in order to help him with the case.

Still, I need to ask him one more question. "What is the evidence by the way?"

He stays silent for a bit, biting his lips and possibly gathering his thought.

"A briefcase." He said. "A silver briefcase."

A silver briefcase? Why?

As I continue writing the testimony into my notebook, I look straight to his eyes and ask him what is inside the briefcase.

"Let me think," His eyes shift to the left, trying to remember what was inside the briefcase. A few seconds later, he looks back and me and tell me the content of the briefcase.

"It's absurd but… it's a document."

I stared at him owlishly. I can't comprehend what he just said.

Who in the world put a freakin document in a briefcase?

"I know, I know. But yes, that was the content of briefcase." He sighs before he continues. "I asked him why he would put it in a briefcase instead of a file and what was that document, but he never said anything and told me to just go there and pick up by 7:04 pm."

I continue to jot down the rest of the testimonies and take notes on some of the thing he said such as the time, items, etc.

Still, though, something still bothers me.

"When you were going there… was there anything strange happen or you found?" I ask my dad, hoping there is something he can help me.

But alas, he shakes his head. "No there was not. Everything was as normal as you can get."

I slump down and let out a defeated breath. Of course, there won't be anything wrong happening. This is not a cop drama where everything falls into the person's lap.

"Although," My dad suddenly speaks up. I look up at him with a curious look. "During the entire trial, the prosecutor was being weird."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"He practically cut-in everything that I said and jumped into ridiculous conclusion, not even bother letting me clarify and explain myself. I had no defense attorney and the judge himself didn't even try to stop him, so the entire court was against me."

When he finishes talking, I can't help but become extremely furious about the whole situation. This was the kind of shit he had to deal with? No defense, no explanation to help him and the evidence were used against him?!

"Siesta." My father's sound immediately broke me from my state. "Deep breath."

I follow my dad's order and take a few deep breathes before apologizing to him. He quickly dismisses it, understand my anger.

For the rest of the time, before I must go back with Louise, we just talk about our current state in life. Such as how is my life, is mother fine, what is my life in the States and other things that I had done in the States.

* * *

 _May 24_ _th_ _, 2022 3:38 PM_

 _Valliere residence_

 _Louise's room_

"So, this is the things that you guys can get your hands on?" Siesta ask me while she is sorting through the file.

Currently, all of us are in the same room sorting out and getting ready for tomorrow's trial. It is a tedious, but necessary thing to do.

I still remember my first trial and I neglected to sort out my evidence. Needless to say, that was a trail that makes me wish I can burry it into the deepest part of my mind and never remember.

Instead of me answering Siesta, Saito decides to cut in and reply to her. "Yup, and honestly, it has fewer things than I expected. This was a really big thing in the law community right?"

I nod silently without looking at him, more focusing on the document on how the trail was run and the evidences in the case.

Reading the details of the case for the umpteenth time, I still can't wrap around the head on why was there no defense attorney was willing to take the case. I still remember that my father had many friends who are all defense attorney.

However, when I look at who was the prosecutor, I think I know why.

"Oliver Cromwell," I say out loud the name. "He was notorious for interrupting cross-examinations and the judge just to make his own argument in a trial, willingness to put any kind of pressure to the courtroom just to sway the mass to his way and generally only takes cases that involve famous people."

"Basically, this guy is a fame hoarder." Saito sums up his personality, and yeah, he is pretty much right.

"I still don't understand though, why a document of all things?" Siesta mumbles about the reason behind the murder.

I didn't say it out loud, but honestly even I don't know why the murderer did that just for a document. Sure, it was meant to use to give my father an edge on the case he was working, but to murder someone and stole it, something is missing.

Regardless, all I have to focus now is tomorrow's trail.

We gather up and place all the files that are needed for tomorrow into a bag and prepare ourselves to end the night (Saito going back to his room, of course).

"Do you think Cromwell will come tomorrow?" Siesta ask me, lying on the bed on my left. "He did take the case after all."

"Highly likely." I shift my position and face her with my uncertain look. "But I also won't count out the fact that he might be not interested in taking the case, let alone watch the trial."

Siesta grunts at my answer and we stay silent, brining ourselves to slumber. However, sometimes during the night, I can feel Siesta shifting around on the bed. I can also hear some soft frustrated huffs and some groan.

I scoot closer to Siesta, having enough of her discomfort. Knowing her for so long and pretty much spent the first few years sleeping on the same bed as her, I think I know what is going on in her bed. "Siesta," I say. "Talk to me, there must be something in your mind right now. You always do that when something is in your mind."

She stays on her position for a little before she shifts to see me face to face and stare me at the eyes.

"Sorry." She starts talking in a nervous tone. "I'm just… really… nervous about tomorrow." The half Japanese woman continues while trying to make eye contact with me. "I guess my pessimism kicked in. I keep thinking to myself: 'What if we screw up?' 'What if they have shreds of evidence or testimonies that completely invalidate Mr. Wardes' planning and effort?'" She takes a deep breath, while unconsciously place herself in a fetal position. "I had so many 'what if' in my mind right now, it's pretty hard to sleep like that."

I grimace at her exposition. Of course she will feel like this. Then again, if we get out hands on big cases, she will tend to have really pessimistic thoughts.

I used to have no idea how am I supposed to help her, but being a childhood friend of hers, I know just the right way to solve this.

I move even closer to her and then hug her. I then brush her hair to the left. She looks up and slowly comes out of her fetal position and smile a little.

"Let worry about that tomorrow. I don't want a sleepy partner by my side."

She nods at my words, happy that she decided to relax and sleep. I continue to hug her until we both fell asleep.

I don't really care if one of my arms got numb in the morning. I like hugging her and she smells nice.

* * *

 **I need to stop being lazy and actually get my ass moving. I mean, I am also taking my theology study more seriously now, but still.**

 **Let me explain myself. I spent the past semester and holiday playing Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Amazing Metroidvania game btw), figuring out what the hell I want to do, and also writing my other fic. And like I mentioned above, I have been taking my religion study more seriously now.**

 **And before I forget, thinking of ideas for my own original work.**

 **About the chapter. Yes, we are finally going to get our first trial and I am probably gonna end up writing the whole thing for the next half a year (or if I am faster, about December).**

 **Well, not much to say now, except thank you and sorry for waiting so patiently (Even if the length doesn't justify it).**

 **Anyway, this is all I have to say right now. Feel free to review and tell me where I can improve the story. I'll see you guys in the next chapter… when I get around to do it.**


	5. Announcement (will be taken down)

Alright, I mentioned in the latest chapter of Thraig Kamen Rider on making an announcement about the future of the fic.

Well, I kinda lied a little bit, because it is about all the fic I have so far.

Okay, first thing first... why am I taking so long just to upload one chapter, and it is a short one to boot.

Well... 2019 is a very exhausting year for me.

I had so much college project this year that I had to wonder how did I make time for writing the story. To put it into perspective, I had two big projects from two different professors in my college that I had to summit back to back, then I had to get preparing a long presentation within a day. By the time I finished everything I am completely out of motivation to write, let alone play the games I bought (most I did was finishing Bloodstained and making progress on .Hack/G.U. and playing gacha games).

My real life had also many terrible moments this year. I won't go into anything, but I can only say that it had screwed up my time on trying to get anything done.

There is also the fact that I have terrible time management this year.

I am going to straight-up admit right now, my schedule on spending time writing is very much non-existence, writing fanfiction is mostly a hobby and a way for me to bring out ideas. For the most part, I had to make more time to focus on my college works. I was so busy with my entire final term of this year that I was not motivated to... just do anything really. The most I can do is end up writing about 200 words at most because my brain was not working at all. I am just glad that I can even get at least 2.5k words by the end of the year or else you guys will be waiting until next February or so.

Now that I said my piece on things that happened this year. What is the future of my two fics?

For the most part, it might be the same. I will update one fic first before I update the other one. However, I will try my best to upload faster, but I can't guarantee since my third year of college will be coming soon.

One important thing to note is that I will try and finish The Past Catches Up ASAP since it is meant to test the water if Pheonix Wright and FOZ crossover works and it is supposed to be a short fic anyway, so it will get prioritize more for now.

Anyway, that is all the announcement I have. I honestly want to thank anyone who is willing to be patient with me throughout the year. Seriously, I have no idea how are you guys so patient with me and I gonna give my respect to people who either can make quality content that takes a long time and people who can write so many words in such a short amount of time.

Well, that is all for now.

Happy New Year everyone.


End file.
